Is your website up to scratch? Have you got scrappy worksheets? Have you communicated key messages to important stakeholders? Come September you’re going to need to know.

These are just a few of the issues highlighted in the latest keynote speeches and School Inspection Handbook. Change has been afoot at Ofsted for some time, and following a review Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s chief inspector, has recently announced three major changes to Ofsted’s approach:

• Inspectors will now have a common inspection framework. This is to unify the lingo and judgements used for reporting across various types of provision.  

• If you’ve been rated ‘good’ then visits will be more frequent – approximately every three years. They are now what is being referred to as a ‘short inspection’. These will be less intrusive, focus on the quality of leadership and aim to see if you continue to provide a good standard of education.

• Each inspection will be led by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors, who will now all be directly employed. And 70% of the Ofsted inspectors who accompany them will be existing practitioners from ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools. There will be no more outsourcing. Nobody without classroom experience will be involved. 

On top of these changes, hidden within the dusty depths of the new handbook, Ofsted outlines increased scrutiny of your public profile and communications. You need to publish the right information on your website. And you will need to prove key stakeholders understand your strategy for raising standards. Getting your communications right has never been more important.

The new inspection documents, including an ‘explaining the changes’ document, can all be found here. 

What do you think about Ofsted’s changes? Is your school ready? Are you effectively engaging with your stakeholders? We want to know. Please do leave a comment – we’re looking forward to hearing your thoughts.